Sequester kills S.A. air show

Updated 2:03 am, Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Two Air Force Thunderbirds jets fly in a mirror-image pattern during the local air show in 2010.

Two Air Force Thunderbirds jets fly in a mirror-image pattern during the local air show in 2010.

Photo: San Antonio Express-News File Photo

Sequester kills S.A. air show

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The budget sequester has claimed another casualty — this year's San Antonio air show.

Joint Base San Antonio cited the Air Force's decision to cancel the Thunderbirds' 2013 season, which starts April 1, in making the announcement Tuesday. It noted the Air Force's participation in such public events as air shows and flyovers at military funerals already had been dropped.

“We knew that, we knew it was coming,” said Richard Perez, president and CEO of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, which has spearheaded Celebrate America's Military Week for 43 years. “It was disappointing. It was such a fantastic event for families in particular, but we will move on.”

The Air Force Thunderbirds or Navy Blue Angels often are the highlight of the annual show, which usually takes place in the fall and draws more than 100,000 spectators.

Previous budget cuts grounded last year's air show, and officials here had planned to hold the event every other year starting in 2013. But the Air Force training command doesn't know if there will be a local air show in 2015.

The show had been in limbo since $46 billion in across-the-board cuts mandated by the budget sequester took effect Friday. Those cuts will affect services ranging from border protection to air traffic control, and will trigger 22 furlough days for civilian Defense Department employees.

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The furloughs begin next month and will affect 20,127 civilian employees at Joint Base San Antonio. The first furlough letters go out March 21, and employees will start four-day work weeks April 25.

With the air show gone, U.S. Army North and other commands were reviewing options on how they'd support San Antonio's annual Fiesta, now six weeks out.

Joint Base San Antonio spokesman Brent Boller said he'd heard no official word about the matter. Army North's Col. Wayne Shanks said the services were talking about what they could and couldn't do this year.

“Those that don't cost a lot of resources we'll try to support as best we can,” he said. “It doesn't cost much for a band to march in a parade.”

An April 22 pilgrimage to the Alamo still is on, as is an April 19 ceremony in which Fiesta royalty converge on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland for a recruit graduation ceremony, said Janie Santos, chief of outreach for the Air Education and Training Command, which helps coordinate Fiesta.

Fiesta royalty sit with top Air Force leaders as hundreds of newly minted airmen march past the reviewing stand.

“We try to do this in a way that made mission sense and still be active with our community in Fiesta,” said Collen McGee, a spokeswoman for Lackland's 37th Training Wing.

A Pentagon directive instructs commanders to scratch events like open houses if they cost money to put on. As a result, officials are deciding whether to hold a reception at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph hosted by Gen. Edward Rice Jr., head of AETC.

Civilians typically help troops participating in Fiesta, particularly parades. Boller said uniformed personnel, military spouses and civilian volunteers could pick up the slack for civil service workers.